I had set aside today to make use of the bus tours around Edinburgh. As I only has a short time to look around, and no specific sights in mind, it seemed the best option. As it turned out, it was a very good idea.

I hopped on the bus outside the University and headed into town. A short walk from the stop on Princes St put me at St Andrew Square, where some of the tours start off (the rest start on Waverley Bridge). I hopped on the basic tour and headed off.

The guide was very knowledgeable, understandable since she has a degree in history, and was very entertaining. The tour took in the main sights around the Old Town and a few of the New Town, pointing out places such as the Jekyll and Hyde Pub (try to find the toilet without the help of the publican - it's apparently a well-known challenge), the gardens which until recently were closed to the public, the memorial to Sir Walter Scott, the new Parliament House (which has not endeared itself to the public, apparently), the history of the buildings along the Royal Mile, and some of the history of the old town around the western side of the castle. It was a very informative ride and I took that trip twice to get in all the sights.

I then hopped off on Waverley Bridge to transfer to another bus. I chatted with one of the tour arrangers to work out which one to take and he suggested one that went out to the docks. At this time I found out that, although I had only bought a ticket for one of the tours, I could upgrade to all five of the tours for just 4 pounds, which I quickly did.

The second tour did not have a guide onboard, so you grabbed a pair of disposable earbuds and plugged into the audio track. This tour gave some of the maritime history of Edinburgh and Leith and was quite interesting.The bus went through the town of Leith and down to the docks where the royal yacht Britannia is moored. From what little I could see, it is a magnificent vessel. As the weather was not looking very hospitable, I decided to stay on the bus, rather than get off and explore the yacht, and continued the tour back into town. I would simply have to come back to Edinburgh and tour it at that time.

After arriving back at Waverley Bridge, I walked back over to St Andrew Square to go on another tour which I was told took in more of Old Town and had a very humorous tour guide, which was an understatement. The tour showcased the multilevel nature of the Old Town of Edinburgh - for example, the North Bridge, which appears to just be a street lined with shops, is actually a bridge, since it passes right over the Cowgate (a street that was once used to move cattle through the town). The tour also highlighted more of the buildings along the Royal Mile, which showed just how much things had changed in that area.

As the tour drew to a close, the rain began to fall, so I quickly made my way to a bus-stop and grabbed a ride back to the University. I spent the evening utilising the laundry facilities in a neighbouring building so that I would have clean clothes for the trip to York tomorrow.